Foot Locker will be opening as many as 50 so-called Power stores, each offering four times the space of one of the chain's regular stores.
Measuring some 9,000 square feet, there are three of these in the U.S. so far — one in Detroit and two in Philadelphia — and a fourth is to open Saturday in New York City, in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood. There are others in Britain (in London and Liverpool) and in Hong Kong. Stores will also be coming to Los Angeles and to Vancouver, British Columbia, the company announced on its website.
The stores are roughly 9,000 square feet — four times larger than Foot Locker's mall spaces
The Manhattan store is the first to involve Nike. The brand’s customers will be able to scan bar codes and receive merchandise and special offers. The store will carry other brands as well, including Adidas, Converse, Jordan and Puma.
Foot Locker, which has about 800 stores in the U.S. (excluding its Lady Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker stores), purchased about two-thirds of its merchandise from Nike in 2017 and 2018.
"The launch of the Washington Heights community Power store serves as an opportunity for us to enhance the in-store customer experience by working in tandem with one of our strongest partners: Nike," said Frank Bracken, U.S. vice president and general manager of Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker, in a prepared statement. "We're focused on creating immersive brand connections that are authentically tied to the neighborhoods we serve. By partnering with Nike, we're able to offer our customers a seamless and frictionless retail experience that will serve and engage the Washington Heights community beyond traditional brick-and-mortar capabilities."
That Washington Heights store will offer men’s gear upstairs and the women’s and children's merchandise downstairs. It also includes a lounge for events, as well as lockers at which online purchases can be picked up.
By Edmund Mander
Director, Editor-In-Chief/SCT
